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Results for “Mate Selection”

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PubMed1994

Mate selection preferences: gender differences examined in a national sample.

Social psychologists have devoted considerable theoretical and empirical attention to studying gender differences in traits desired in a mate. Most of the studies on mate preferences, however, have been conducted with small, nonrepresentative samples. In this study, we analyzed data collected from single adults in a national probability sample, the National Survey of Families and Households. Respondents were asked to consider 12 possible assets or liabilities in a marriage partner and to indicate their willingness to marry someone possessing each of these traits. These data extended previous research by comparing men's and women's mate preferences in a heterogeneous sample of the national population and by comparing gender differences in different sociodemographic groups. The gender differences found in this study were consistent with those secured in previous research (e.g., youth and physical attractiveness were found to be more important for men than for women; earning potential was found to be less important for men than for women) and were quite consistent across age groups and races. However, the various sociodemographic groups differed slightly in the magnitude of gender differences for some of the mate preferences.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Host-plant-derived variation in ultraviolet wing patterns influences mate selection by male butterflies.

We report on the first case in which sequestered secondary plant compounds determine an insect's external appearance in the ultraviolet spectrum and thereby influence visually mediated mate choice. Larvae of the common blue butterfly Polyommatus icarus specifically sequester flavonoids in different amounts and types, depending on the part or species of food plant. During late pupal development the majority of ultraviolet-absorbing flavonoids are deposited in the wing scales. The flavonoid content of the larval diet thereby determines ultraviolet wing patterns. In laboratory and field experiments, male butterflies clearly preferred flavonoid-rich, ultraviolet-absorbing female dummies. This preference is mediated visually by the ultraviolet pattern of the wings. Food-plant parts and species vary in value as a food source, so ultraviolet wing patterns may signal mate quality and are not a species-specific characteristic. We discuss the use of principal component analysis in analysing spectral data in the context of visual communication. We propose the alternative application of confidence intervals of averaged spectra as a novel straightforward statistical method for comparing groups of spectra in a manner that is independent of assumptions about the visual system of the receiver. In addition, they can be used to give confidence intervals to derived measures of colour such as quantum catch by photoreceptors.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Optimal mechanisms for finding and selecting mates: how threespine stickleback ( Gasterosteus aculeatus) should encode male throat colors.

Male threespine stickleback ( Gasterosteus aculeatus) use nuptial colors to attract mates and intimidate rivals. We quantified stickleback color and environmental lighting using methods independent of human perception to evaluate the information transmitted by male signals in a habitat where these signals are displayed. We also developed models of chromatic processing based on four cone photopigments (peak absorptions at 360, 445, 530, and 605 nm) characterized microspectrophotometrically in G. aculeatus and three other stickleback species. We show that a simple opponent mechanism receiving equally weighted inputs from cones with peak absorptions at 445 nm and 605 nm efficiently encodes variation in male throat colors. An orthogonal opponent mechanism-the difference between outputs of 530-nm cones and mean of outputs of 445- and 605-nm cones-produces a neural signal that could be used for species recognition and would be largely insensitive to variation in male throat color. We also show that threespine stickleback throats/photopigments are optimized for this coding scheme. These and other findings lead to testable hypotheses about the spectral processing mechanisms present in the threespine stickleback visual systems and the evolutionary interactions that have shaped this signal/receiver system.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Sexual-moral attitudes, love styles, and mate selection.

Students at a southwestern university were surveyed to test the interrelations of three constructs: sexual-moral attitudes, love styles, and attraction criteria. Following the procedures of the National Health and Social Life Survey, from which the sexual-moral attitude items were obtained, we conducted a cluster analysis to create attitudinal groupings. We obtained four clusters representing various nuances of liberalism and conservatism. When compared on love styles, the clusters differed primarily on ludus and pragma. Not only did some of the liberal clusters differ from some of the conservative ones on love styles, but there were also some differences within liberalism and within conservatism. Cluster differences also emerged on the attraction criteria.

Adult↗